Outstanding student work celebrated at State of Sheffield exhibition

The work of first year undergraduate students from the Faculty of Social Science’s 13 departments was displayed and celebrated at the State of Sheffield module exhibition earlier this month.

The exhibition invited displays from students who produced the best work from all 27 projects in the Faculty’s State of Sheffield: Global Perspectives on Local Issues module. The module is part of the University’s Achieve More programme and introduces students to what it means to be a social scientist.

It brings together first years from across the Faculty to work in project groups with students from other departments. They look at issues as diverse as inequality, migration and climate change, and how these are impacting on Sheffield.

The winning group from each project brought their research project and artefact to be judged by three panels led by Jackie Marsh; Faculty Director of Learning and Teaching, Gill Valentine; Vice-President & Head of Faculty, and Craig Watkins; Faculty Director of Research & Innovation. The panels chose a winner for each of the five project themes. A final prize was awarded to a group chosen by public ballot at the event.

Group 42 -: Landscapes of Loss and Memory (app design & video)

Group 42 designed a smartphone app that uses augmented reality to display a virtual memorial of the dead, a way of keeping their memory alive in the digital age. The app is designed to be used whilst exploring the Sheffield General Cemetery, ‘providing an interactive an immersive experience that educates and entertains visitors’.

Group 187 - Understanding Sheffield’s Brexit ‘Shock’ (poster)

Group 187 asked why Sheffield voted to leave the EU, and visited Darnall to conduct their research in the form of a survey. Their hypothesis was that there is a correlation between support for right wing parties and votes to leave the EU.

Group 13 - Community Leadership and Local Democracy in Sheffield (poster & website)

Group 13 studied Sheffield food banks, and created a striking poster that uses a mirror to force viewers to imagine themselves in a position where they rely on a food bank. They also created a website to show people how they can support their local food bank, which links from the poster via QR code.

Group 60 - Re-imagining Sheffield: How to Promote the Steel City’s New Locational Assets (festival plan)

Group 60 planned and created a business plan for a new, sustainable festival in Sheffield. The plan draws on Sheffield culture and history, benefits the local economy by involving local businesses, and hopes to show the world what Sheffield has to offer and put the city on the map.

Faculty Director of Learning and Teaching, Jackie Marsh said: “The judging panel found it extremely challenging to identify the winners this year. The standard of the presentations in general was outstanding. Students had used a wide variety of methods and materials to present their ideas, including films, 3-D constructions, games and even performance poetry!

"The winners were identified as stand-out because of the depth of their research and analysis, the clarity with which they presented their ideas, and the evidence of good team work. Congratulations to all of our winning teams, but also well done to all of our first year students for their wonderful work on the 'State of Sheffield' module.”